Does a Minor Crack in a solar panel effect its Efficiency?

[LightShow]

Hey guys

I have an older 300w panel that gets used for charging up batteries through a regulator during the day for a 24/7 UHF/VHF repeater setup.. recently i Have noticed the panel has a small crack through the glass in one of the corners. does this affect efficiency at all?

Regards, Lightshow

 

[(*steve*)]

It depends.

Will this crack allow moisture to enter?

Condensation on the inside of the glass will reduce efficiency greatly. The individual cells can also be damaged by moisture. And obviously if there's enough water in that you can short cells out.

 

[LightShow]

It depends.

Will this crack allow moisture to enter?

Condensation on the inside of the glass will reduce efficiency greatly. The individual cells can also be damaged by moisture. And obviously if there's enough water in that you can short cells out.

from what i have noticed no water has entered the panel and i have been checking it daily after rain with no condensation found

 

[(*steve*)]

As long as it remains sealed and the crack doesn't impinge the area above the cells themselves you should be fine.

Even if the crack does impinge the cells, it's likely that it won't have a significant impact.

Do you know what caused the crack? If it's caused by stresses from the mounting of the panel then it could progress further or affect other panels.

 

[LightShow]

As long as it remains sealed and the crack doesn't impinge the area above the cells themselves you should be fine.

Even if the crack does impinge the cells, it's likely that it won't have a significant impact.

Do you know what caused the crack? If it's caused by stresses from the mounting of the panel then it could progress further or affect other panels.

since this setup is used in a live ammunition range for military training i think someone used the panel for cover and a bullet casing must haven fallen onto the panel.. its impossible for it to have been a direct bullet hit cause it would've made a bigger crack haha. also could have been from a heavy hail storm we had a while back..